Since our text a month ago about Forced Labour and Recruitment Fees, several new cases have emerged across Europe involving unpaid wages, illegal recruitment practices, and workers found without valid permits on major construction and industrial sites. This is not just a series of isolated incidents of poor treatment – it reflects a systemic problem that demands urgent attention. Below, we look at recent examples and share three concrete actions that companies can take to prevent exploitation and protect every worker on their sites.
Across Europe, workers on major projects are still being underpaid, badly housed, or even detained. Almost every week, new revelations surface, yet companies often express surprise each time. If you run projects with subcontractors, take a closer look at your own site today.
Three recent cases from Northern Europe
1. The Stegra steel plant (Boden, Sweden)
A large raid at Stegra’s site found 19 people without the right to work; authorities said they will execute expulsion decisions. In parallel, around 40 Turkish workers hired via subcontractor Ankitech reported going months without wages. The main contractor, Gemkom, agreed partial repayments after union pressure.
(🔗 Read more)
2. Hodes Workforce / Hodes Rental, now “GreenWorkers” (Helsinki/Turku/Kuopio, Finland)
Finnish media have detailed an Estonian company network that underpaid Ukrainian builders, with union evidence of about €2,000 per month shortfalls on multiple construction sites. Authorities have fined one of the firms involved.
(🔗 Read more)
3. Microsoft data-centre build, Blu-3 / Mace subcontract chain (Middenmeer, Netherlands)
Dozens of migrant workers protested unpaid wages at the project in 2023. In 2025, the UK Serious Fraud Office opened a bribery probe tied to the same construction. Meanwhile, Dutch authorities have increased fines and can now close down exploitative operators.
(🔗 Read more here and here)
If you’re a client or main contractor, do these three things now – on every active site:
1. Map and lock your chain.
Require a live, named tier-by-tier subcontractor register (including payroll provider and labour agency names). Prohibit further sub-subcontracting without consent, and include chain-liability clauses for wages, housing, and permits. In the Nordics, verify posted-worker and work-permit data against authorities’ registers before access badges are issued.
2. Verify people, pay, and housing – not just paper.
Run unannounced worker interviews in native languages. Match timesheets to access logs, spot-check bank payslips against collective agreement (CBA) rates, and audit employer-provided housing for occupancy, sanitation, and contracts. Make site access conditional on passing these checks.
3. Protect workers’ status – and your project.
Ban passport retention. Publish an independent hotline or QR-code grievance channel. Commit to no retaliation and no use of immigration enforcement against complainants. Set aside a rapid remedy fund to pay arrears if a subcontractor disappears. Raise workers’ awareness about their rights, what they are entitled to and what’s not acceptable through induction, regular communication, posters etc – in languages that the workers understand. Train site managers on what to do if police or inspectorates arrive, so that workers are not left unrepresented.
If you don’t know the real conditions for every worker on your site, assume there is a risk – and act before the headlines or authorities do.
Photo by Pop & zebra on Unsplash